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I have been to a class where they demostrated the Red Snappers. They look ok. I think they will take a little time to adjust to. At least for me. Seemed a little awkward. But once you get use to them, they'll probably be ok. You may want to see them demostrated and actually try them or at least get hands on before you buy. Make sure they will work with your leaders. I think mine are too thick. Maybe your local quilt shop carries a set. If you get good at it, I'm sure it's faster. I saw them at a Handi Quilter class. I have a Gammill Optimum plus and I'll continue to pin for now.

Today I have a quilty friend coming over to learn how to use Mabel. I am going to start renting it to her when she wants or she will help catch up on the charity quilt backlog we have. Looking forward to this. She has a short-arm set up at home and does nice work on it but she's looking forward to having more room to work with. Should be a fun day.

I have the red snappers (APQS Millenium) and I love them! I've been in Hawaii the last 3 weeks so catching up. So many beautiful quilts out here - good job everyone and Happy New Year. Happy to say I came back to 2 requests for my long arm services so my new business is getting off the ground!

I'm so happy to hear from someone who has actually used them. I'm really encouraged to get them now as pinning is fast becoming more and more difficult for me. I will have to put a casing on my leaders as they do not currently have one but that should not be too hard. Thanks for sharing your opinion.

Life is like a quilt...bits & pieces, joy & sorrow, stitched with love

No problem. It was very easy to put the pocket on the leaders. I didn't even have to take them off the machine to do it- just used the long arm (doesn't have to be pretty just has to hold the rod in and you ony do it once). I can now load a king in about 15 minutes. When I first got them I was worried because it was so hard to snap them on, but after one use, they really loosened up and now it's no problem.

When I first got them I was worried because it was so hard to snap them on, but after one use, they really loosened up and now it's no problem.

That answers one of the questions I was going to ask you. I don't have a lot of strength in my hands now but I figured my hubby could help me load them, at least until they loosen up some. I hope you don't mind a few more questions as I think of them?

I'm not sure I'm coordinated enough to put the casings on without taking the leaders off.

Life is like a quilt...bits & pieces, joy & sorrow, stitched with love

Glad Charlotte was able to help you with the Red Snappers. I don't know if the ones I saw and the person trying to put them on was new at it. Just looked awkward to me. They had a hard time. Glad someone on here has used them and give you good positive feedback. After you get them to work for you I'm sure it'll help you.

No problem, ask away! Do you have a vertical and horizontal lock on your machine? That's what I used to sew the straight line you need to make the pocket for the rod. I have noticed that some of the long arm leaders already have the pocket on them. There are a couple of great demo videos if you search red snappers on YouTube or google. You might want to watch them-they helped me a lot.

I'm one of those zipper people. I watched the video for the Red Snapper and they look OK, but it would take hands on demo to know if it is really as easy as they make it look. Before I converted my thinking to zippers, I would have told you "no way". I went to a class to learn how to use my new longarm and the lady showed us how to load our backing and tops using zippers, and I have been totally zipper minded from that moment when the light went on.

I agree that everyone has their preferences, but seeing it done right in front of you is the ticket.

Jeanine. I hope you & your friend had fun playing with Mabel today :-) I bet it would be nice to have some help with the charity quilts & maybe make a bit of extra cash by renting out your machine. Who knows - maybe you can buy more fabric & batting with it! LOL